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CHAPTER VI
ADOPTION OF RIGHT-BELIEF BY ŚRENIKA AND INITIATION OF MEGHAKUMARA AND NANDISENA
Prasenajit in Kuśāgrapura (1-10)
Now, in this same Bharata in the town Kuśāgrapura there was a king, Prasenajit, who had a very sharp wit. His boundless ocean of glory, by which every quarter is adorned, swallowed entirely his enemies' rivers of fame. His army was merely for the glory of the kingdom, since he destroyed his tiger-enemies just by the fire of his splendor. Even the wind is obstructed by the mountain, even the thunderbolt by the ocean; but his command was obstructed by no one on earth. Giving riches to supplicants with outstretched hands, he never closed his own hand, as if in rivalry with them. When darkness was produced by the dust of battle, the Śrīs of victory deserted their own lords and, going to meet their lover, embraced him fully. The religion of the Jina was fixed in the pure mind of him, the crest-jewel of good conduct, like perfume in a heavy mass of hair. He, the bee to the lotus of Śrī Pārśva Jina's teaching, observed the lesser vows, pious with right belief. He, the crest-jewel of kings, like Indra in heaven, had extensive women's apartments because of the princesses he had married. Ruling the earth, equal to Pākaśāsana, he had many sons who were like other forms of himself.
Sumangala and the ascetic (11-45)
Now, in this same Bharata, in the town Vasantapura, there was a king suitably named Jitaśatru. His chief-queen, Amarasundari, was like a goddess who had come to earth, a mine of the jewels of virtues. They had a son, named Sumangala, the dwelling-place of felicity, a Kandarpa in beauty, a depository of the arts, like the moon of digits. There was
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